Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs: Roles and Network

Published on Tuesday, April 04, 2017

By insiya yadav

“The new entity – Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) shall supervise the work for its field formations and overlook the functioning of Directorates, aiding the Government in policy making in relation to Goods & Services Tax, continuing Central Excise Levy and Custom Operations” – Arun Jaitley, Union Finance Minister.

Introduction:

As the Central Government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the rolling out and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), w.e.f. July 1, 2017, Union Finance Ministry led by the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, on March 25, 2017, approved the rechristening and restructuring of the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) as the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC). However, legislative approval i.e. the Parliamentary approval is also required to this effect before the actual name change. For the legislative approval, the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963, is expected to be amended suitably. As per approval accorded by Mr. Jaitley, the new Board for Indirect Taxes is to become operational from June 1, 2017.

Why the Name is to be changed?

The prime reason for the name change is due to the overhauling of the tax regime in India i.e. to implement and enforce the provisions of the proposed Goods & Services Tax (GST) Act to be effective from July 1, 2017.

Other Name Changes:

The existing Training Establishment of CBEC would also be renamed as “National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics”.

The training institute will have an all-India presence, to enable capacity building of the employees of the indirect tax administration of the Centre as well as of the State Governments and the members of Trade and Industry.

This will also make certain that the taxpayers are availing the services required by them for transition to GST tax administration structure.

The renamed Directorate General of Goods & Service Tax Intelligence is also being strengthened and expanded to become an important wing of the Government in its fight against Tax Evasion and Black Money.

New Roles and Functions of CBIC:

The proposed CBIC shall supervise the work of all its field formations and Directorates to “Assist the Government in policy making in relation to GST”.